What Else Were We Listening To...

& & by Joel Smith, Carey Murphy and Luke Baumgarten & & & r & Hot damn 2005 was a great year for new releases. We mean it. Great. But as great as it was, our top 10 album lists can't really touch on the reality of what we were listening to most this year. For every Apologies to the Queen Mary, Black Sheep Boy or some self-titled, self-released Brooklyn sensation, there were dozens of albums we listened to that didn't get to talk about. We're rectifying that here. These are the old things we listened to a lot this year, irrespective of release dates. -- & lt;i & Luke Baumgarten & lt;/i &

& & Belle and Sebastian - & & & & & lt;i & Push Barman to Open Old Wounds & lt;/i & & & (2005) & r & Released in 2005, this is really more of a compiling of all B & amp;Ses old stuff that I'd previously had to download (illegally) because I couldn't get my hands on the original pressings of like 1000 that most of these songs came out on. All the B & amp;S I've been listening to fastidiously for four-ish years, now in one, legal place

& & Fiery Furnaces - & & & & & lt;i & Blueberry Boat & lt;/i & & & & & & & (2004) & r & In high school I had an S-10 Blazer that had problems with the starter. Schmabbing around in a 4WD definitely made it easy to get places other people couldn't go (parties deep in the woods of Chattaroy, etc) Until I got the starter fixed, though, I had to park facing downhill and coast until I hit like 15 miles per hour, then pop the clutch to get the thing running. Blueberry Boat is kinda like that. It took me a long time (well into 2005) to get up to speed with this release, but once I did, it's been taking me to places I didn't think existed.

& & The GZA - & & & & & lt;i & Liquid Swords & lt;/i & & & (1995) & r & This makes my best of just about any year. The RZA may be simultaneously producing, rapping, scoring films, acting in films and working up his own bizarro religion, but, to borrow from the & lt;i & 36 Chambers & lt;/i & , "The Genius is just the Genius."

& & Neutral Milk Hotel - & & & & & lt;i & In the Airplane Over the Sea & lt;/i & & & (1996) & r & I revisited this album a lot in 2005, especially when I was preparing to write that bit about Colin Meloy, trying to figure out why the Decemberists always get compared to NMH. I still don't get it (though it may have something to do with songs about dead babies ...). After the story was written, I found myself coming back to this album whenever my faith in humanity's ability to make something beautiful was shaken (when reading over my own work, for example). This is a profoundly hopeful album

& & The Vells - & & & & & lt;i & Flight From Echo Falls & lt;/i & & & (2004) & r & This was by far my favorite release of 2004, and it continues to be among the best of this aging decade.

& & Viktor Vaughan - & & & & & lt;i & Vaudeville Villain & lt;/i & & & (2003) & r & Showcases MF Doom's uncanny flows exclusive of the amazing cadre of producers (Madlib, Dangermous) he's been working with lately. Full of adroit pop culture and sci-fi references and samples, this is the album that began the buzz. What to listen to until that new Ghostface hits ... and, for that matter, the Ghostface / Doom collaboration MCs and [Adult Swim] fans alike have been salivating over.

& & JOEL SMITH & & & lt;hr height="2" & & & The Arcade Fire - & & & & & lt;i & Funeral & lt;/i & & & & & & & (2004) & r & Strangely, though it came out in September of 2004, this album didn't make any of our top ten lists last year. And though I feel a little remiss that we missed it (I didn't even hear it until Christmas week of last year), I guess it makes sense in some ways. The band flew under the radar for about half a year after this came out, escaping mass attention, touring the United States and Canada, playing smallish venues. Then suddenly they just got huge. Pitchfork started lauding them, word-of-mouth spread. They started packing huge venues and scored two Grammy nominations (for this year).

Last week & lt;i & Entertainment Weekly & lt;/i & said the band were relative nobodies until they played Coachella in May and blew everybody away. That was sort of my experience with them, too. I loved the record but missed them when they played Sasquatch in May. Then I caught them at the Austin City Limits music festival in September. I didn't really know what to expect. They came out in their dark formal attire, started cranking away at that mechanical intro to "Wake Up." Then they absolutely blew my hair back, all bazillion of them belting out the opening chorus in unison. I had goose bumps all over, despite the 108-degree heat. One of the best shows I've ever seen.

So, technically this came out in 2004, but it's still my favorite album of 2005.

& & Death Cab for Cutie - & & & & & lt;i & Transatlanticism & lt;/i & & & & & & & (2004) & r & & lt;i & The Stranger & lt;/i & very quickly named this their album of the year in 2004 and just as quickly rescinded that honorific, having played the record into the ground. It's held up pretty well for me, though. Not my favorite, but it's remained fresh. If only the same could be said for & lt;i & Plans & lt;/i & which grew stale halfway through the first play.

Mondays. Continues through May 25

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